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Laura Joh Rowland, author of Overlook's The Secret Adventures of Charlotte Bronte, is featured today on Dear Author's "My First Sale" series.

Laura talks about her interest in the beloved Victorian author and her fascinating family. Laura also talks about her own challenges of reinventing herself as a novelist with Charlotte, which is a departure from her critically acclaimed Sano Ichiro samurai detective series.

The Secret Adventures of Charlotte Bronte will be available in stores and libraries on Wednesday, March 13th.

The American Booksellers Association has selected Laura Joh Rowland's The Secret Adventures of Charlotte Brontë as a March Book Sense Pick!

A little more about the book:

Upon learning that she has been falsely accused of breaching her publishing contract, the normally mild-mannered Charlotte Brontë sets off for London to clear her name. But when she unintentionally witnesses a murder, Charlotte finds herself embroiled in a dangerous chain of events. With the aid of her sisters, Emily and Anne, and of the suspiciously well-informed but irresistibly attractive brother of the victim, Charlotte works to unravel a deadly web of intrigue. Charlotte is plunged into a thrilling adventure and a passionate romance that leads her from the peaceful Yorkshire moors to the crime-infested streets of London to the wilds of Scotland and the palaces of Queen Victoria herself. Will Charlotte be able to stop a devious invisible villain whose schemes threaten her life, her family, and the very fabric of the British empire?

Laura Joh Rowland is the author of twelve other books, including the critically acclaimed The Snow Empress and Red Chrysanthemum. She was educated at the University of Michigan and now lives in New Orleans with her husband.

The Secret Adventures of Charlotte Brontë will be available in stores on March 13th. Check out the author's blog for more information about the making the book: www.laurajohrowland.com.

The Secret Adventures of Charlotte Bronte is reviewed in the February 1 issue of Kirkus: "Charlotte Bronte is drawn into a web of political intrigue in the latest novel from Laura Joh Rowland, author of the Sano Ichiro series (The Snow Empress).The cherished isolation of Haworth is disturbed when Charlotte receives an alarming letter regarding her publishing career. She decides the only way to straighten out the mess is to present her real self to her publisher, with sister Anne in tow. Charlotte's other sister, Emily, furious that their pseudonyms are to be revealed, storms off to stalk the moors. As soon as Charlotte and Anne board the train for London, their adventure begins in the form of Isabel White, a governess of modest means and highly peculiar manner. Miss White seems to be escaping something, and not long after they arrive in London, Charlotte witnesses Miss White's murder. The killing, far from another example of London's violence, is instead part of a conspiracy of international proportions. Charlotte must team up with Mr. Slade, a spy for Her Majesty's Foreign Office, in order to save herself and her family (all have been threatened with death) and capture the villain. After dodging bad men and traveling to the Continent and back, Charlotte discovers the mastermind prepared to topple the British Crown: the seductive Kuan. Seeking to put an end to the British opium trade that has crippled China, Kuan plots treacherous schemes that include the kidnapping of the royal children. Along the way Charlotte falls in love with Mr. Slade; her ruined brother Branwell redeems himself; and the fragile Emily leaves Haworth to do a bit of spying at a school that secretly trains its girls for prostitution. If at times the pursuit of Kuan seems, well, Victorian in its countless plot turns, Rowland offers an attractive counterpoint in her portrayal of the Bront" clan and their family dynamics. A very Victorian murder, the evils of British imperialism and a beloved novelist unite in this appealing literary mystery."

Laura Joh Rowland's new novel, The Secret Adventures of Charlotte Brontë, is reviewed in Publishers Weekly:

"The author of Jane Eyre plays sleuth in this enchanting historical from Rowland, acclaimed for her mystery series set in 17th-century Japan (The Snow Empress, etc.). After the instant success of Jane Eyre and the lesser success of her two sisters’ novels, Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey, Charlotte Brontë receives a letter from her publisher, George Smith, accusing her of breach of contract: Smith believes the same author penned all three novels, as they each appeared under a pseudonym with the surname Bell. On the train from Haworth to London to meet Smith, Charlotte and sister Anne encounter Isabel White, a mysterious girl who, once in London, is murdered. Charlotte becomes ensnared in a case involving a revenge plot orchestrated by an arch villain shaded with old school orientalism. Brontë fans will delight in Rowland’s portrait of Charlotte, who closely parallels Jane both in personality and station. The men playing opposite Charlotte often echo the character of Edward Rochester, lending an enticing will-they, won’t-they tension to the proceedings."

The Secret of Adventures of Charlotte Bronte will be published in March 2008.

Laura Joh Rowland, author of the acclaimed Sano Ichiro mystery series, has devised a cool trivia contest for Charlotte Bronte fans on her website, with the winners getting an advance reading copy (autographed by the author!) of The Secret Adventures of Charlotte Bronte, coming from Overlook in April 2008. The contest deadline is October 31, so get those entries in now!

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